Qld Health failing to stop dengue epidemic

Health authorities in Queensland have admitted they are failing to stop the spread of dengue fever in the state's north-east.

More than 600 people have contracted the mosquito-borne virus despite assurances in January that the number of cases would decline within a couple of weeks.

532 cases of dengue fever have been reported in Cairns, 70 in Townsville and a handful in other centres nearby.

The epidemic that started in December was expected to slow in January, but dengue has continued to spread unabated despite a mosquito eradication program.

Dr Linda Selvey from Queensland Health partly blames the wet weather.

"It slows down our response because we can't actually undertake our dengue control activities when it's raining and it also means that containers that we had emptied [refill], and refilling creates more breeding sites," she said.

"We've also had the problems with the pesticide resistance."

Five years ago two people died from dengue fever in the Torres Strait. Cairns Mayor Val Schier is worried people may die again.

"There are always been concerns that people may die, particularly people who are getting it for a second time," she said.

The council is so concerned it has started imposing fines on those who blatantly leave water lying around their backyards, creating the perfect breeding opportunity for the aedes aegypti mosquito.

"If the teams go into a backyard and they discover multiple breeding sites and people who are just not taking it seriously, we have the capacity to slap a $400 fine on those people," she said.

Queensland Health will not speculate whether the number of cases will top 900 like it did in Townsville and Charters Towers in 1990, but it says an end is in sight.

"As the temperatures get cooler and as the rain eases off then that helps us in our efforts because it makes the mosquitoes less vigorous in their breeding and also fewer opportunities for the mosquitoes to breed," Dr Selvey said.